Totally Biased Fan Review: Standing Room Only – Tim McGraw

1. “Hold on to It”
2. “Standing Room Only”
3. “Paper Umbrellas”
4. “Remember Me Well”
5. “Hey Whiskey”
6. “Her”
7. “Fool Me Again”
8. “Small Town King”
9. “Beautiful Hurricane”
10. “Cowboy Junkie”
11. “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee” (featuring Lori McKenna)
12. “Some Songs Change Your World”
13. “Letter From Heaven”

Everywhere is my favourite Tim album and it is also in my top 10 international country albums of all time. I own other Tim albums but this new album will rank at no. 2. It is in the same league- almost.

He is not a prolific writer, he only has one co-write on here and that is with the magnificent Lori McKenna and Bob Minner.

He is in fine voice here and the songs are written for him. It is probably his best album for a while and it is more classic Tim than any other release for some time.

There are a lot of familiar songwriters on here, like Kameron Marlowe, The Warrens, Lori and Lance Miller.

Tim released his first album 30 years ago, this is his 17th. There are some standout tracks, Hey Whiskey, Fool me again is classic Tim and the last track will have the hardest heart melting a bit.

Beautiful Hurricane, Some songs change your world, Nashville CA/ LA Tennessee with Lori, all good songs.

If you want a reminder of the fantastic flavour of 90’s American Country, then this will do the trick.

1. Hold On To It” (Written by Ryan Larkins, Seth Mosley, Jimmy Yeary)
2. “Standing Room Only” (Written by Tommy Cecil, Patrick Murphy, Craig Wiseman)
3. “Paper Umbrellas” (Written by Monty Criswell, Drake Milligan)
4. “Remember Me Well” (Written by Heather Morgan, Jimmy Robbins)
5. “Hey Whiskey” (Written by Brad Hutsell, Joel Hutsell, Brad Warren, Brett Warren)
6. “Her” (Written by Jason Gantt, Tim Nichols, Jimmy Yeary)
7. “Fool Me Again” (Written by Kameron Marlowe, Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Rob Williford)
8. “Small Town King” (Written by Jaren Johnston, Jenn Schott, Jeremy Stover)
9. “Beautiful Hurricane” (Written by Mike Lane, Tony Lane)
10. “Cowboy Junkie” (Written by Bill Luther, Lance Miller, Justin Weaver)
11. “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee (Featuring Lori McKenna)” (Written by Tim McGraw, Lori McKenna, Bob Minner)
12. “Some Songs Change Your World” (Written by Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Lance Miller)
13. “Letter From Heaven” (Written by Chase McGill, Lori McKenna, Parker Welling

Totally Biased Fan Review: Walk A Mile – Stuart Alexander

Stuart Alexander is not resting on his laurels. I think if you release a fine album, you have to follow it up very quickly with another one. What Stuart has done here, with two wise old owls – Bill Chambers and Jeff McCormack – is produce an album which is even better. That doesn’t happen very often.

I really loved Nevertire but this album is on another level. After reading how it was recorded, fairly organically ( overused word but apt here), it is an album recorded LIVE but not in a pub or at another gig, just LIVE in the studio.

Other bits were added, but essentially, what you get here is three chords and the truth with some cherries on the top. It is a very relaxed album with a down home vibe.

Alexander has a hand in 9 out of 10 songs, with the Corb Lund song Especially a Paint being the exception. That’s okay with me because I love Corb and the song fits the mood of the album.

What I love about anything that Bill touches is that it is not over produced. It is always quality, but it is easy on the ear and it soothes the soul.

Before I talk more about the songs, I want to give a nod to Sid Arber. The photography is fabulous on the inside and cover of the album. Of course, I am a train buff, and the mention of chook palace when I am sitting here in my Roosters’ jersey is making me smile.

Anyway, I digress. The title track is a great way to kick things off. Drive on has some great guitar work. This spills over into Comin’ Home which has a 60’s twangy guitar feel.

I love Who Am I to judge- possibly one of my fave album songs of the year, so far. It reminds me of Poco, The Eagles, Dylan. Brilliant.

Interestingly, that song is followed by a song with a related title, Let Justice prevail but the title is where the subject matter ends. However, it is a terrific song too. I love story songs and country music is full of them. It has the feeling of a bushranger song rather than the Wild West, but it could easily fit into both or a modern west theme.

Bourke is an interesting song, I must ask Stuart about it. It has obviously changed since I’ve been there. It is one of those towns that you don’t expect to change.

Obviously, I like Old South Coast Line. I know the railroad track and I love train songs. It is about more than that, though. I like that folky feel too.

Win or Lose is a bit more funky. I mentioned the Corb Lund song before, it is a beauty.

Warriors is chiefly an instrumental with a few words mid song.

You get a mixture of textures as this album ebbs and flows. It is a finely crafted, relaxing Sunday arvo record.

Totally Biased Fan Review: Departure and Arrival – Angus Gill and The Seasons of Change. EEP

1. April Fools
2. You Wouldn’t Steal a Heart*
3. Departure & Arrival
4. Little Green Man*
5. Crying Out For Love
6. Can’t Kiss You Over Coffee*
7. Something Fishy
8. Start Up The Old Dance Again
9. I’m Just Gonna Grab a Sandwich

Produced by Angus Gill
*Produced by Angus Gill & Billy Miller

Engineered by Andrew ‘Idge’ Hehir at Soundpark Studios,
Angus Gill at Hot Plate Studios & Billy Miller at Joni’s House
Mixed by Angus Gill at Hot Plate Studios
Mastered by William Bowden at King Willy Studios

Angus Gill & Seasons of Change:
Peter ‘Lucky’ Luscombe – drums and percussion
Bill McDonald – electric and upright bass
Dan Kelly – electric and 12 string guitars
Cameron Bruce – piano, Hammond B3 organ, farfisa, theremin, mellotron, marimba and wurlitzer.
Billy Miller – acoustic and electric guitars, celeste and background vocals
Angus Gill – acoustic, electric & baritone guitars, papoose, background vocals and percussion.

Additional Overdubs:
Lucky Oceans – pedal steel guitar (track 7)
Jeff Taylor – accordion (track 5)
Tim Crouch – octave fiddle (track 8)
Daniel Sadownick – percussion (tracks 5 & 9)
Susie Ahern – background vocals (tracks 3 & 5)
Sinead Burgess – background vocals (track 5)
Nikos Giousef – musical saw (track 8)
Max Abrams – tenor saxophone (track 9)
Lucy Anne Gill – barking (track 6)
Siobhan Juric – carbuncle chat (track 6)

Angus Gill is a master of reinventing himself. He has tried just about every one of the 94 types of country music. He’s busy producing other folks and he’s prolific at recording and touring. He works with older, more established artists, up and comers and returning favourites.

Here, he works with members of Australia’s most revered songwriter, Paul Kelly. On this EEP, the 9 tracks are all so different to each other and yet another departure from his other albums.

Along with guys like Henry Wagons, 8 Ball Aitken and Gareth Leach, he pushes the boundaries a bit, experiments and mixes it up, but unlike others, these guys tie it all back into the essence of country music – its meaning and its vibe.

Angus has ticked a lot of boxes. He is still very young and he has done so much. He doesn’t have the stereotypical look of a country musician, but he is probably more country than a lot who wear a cowboy hat, jeans and a checked shirt.

The title track and an already released song is probably one of his best songs yet.

Start up the old dance again is probably my favourite though. He always goes a bit ‘takes of the unexpected on us and that comes in the form of something Fishy and I’m just gonna grab a sandwich.

Can’t Kiss You Over Coffee has a Mondo Rock/Ross Wilson vibe.

You Wouldn’t Steal a Heart is a very catchy track with some interesting lyrics. Cryin’ out for love has a Cajun/almost reggae beat to it.

There’s not much territory that Angus doesn’t cover. He has a band here that can keep up with his pace and his mixed stylings.

What makes Angus special is that he gives it all a go. He very rarely goes down the same road twice, or if he does, he walks that road in a different way. He’s not afraid to be the only kid in the class with a different uniform on. He’s unique and this EEP carries that path forward.

Totally Biased Fan Review: All these walls – Gretta Ziller

TRACK ORDER:

1. Cross My Fingers
2. Dear Damascus
3. Ain’t Even Your Lover
4. Whole
5. All These Walls
6. St Louis
7. Here I Am
8. Bones
9. Golden Days
10. Who Knows

It is apt that any artist would open an album with a song called Cross My Fingers. When you are the Queen of Melbournetown, you don’t need luck, Gretta Ziller.

Gretta wrote and recorded this album during that time in Melbourne’s and the world’s most isolating time but it is not about that time.

That opening track is one of the best songs on the album by the way. The next track, Dear Damascus, was my favourite of the singles released.

Gretta’s music background is varied and it always comes through in her music. Not many musicians in this country can say that they could whistle before they could talk, play the bagpipes, learn how to play the violin at 2 and a half and have a degree in music.

After all of that, Gretta ends up in the Americana/Alt. Country World of music. She has often said that she doesn’t like making the same album twice. And she doesn’t. That huge, powerful, voice comes through always but always in a different way.

Nobody sounds like Gretta, although many have tried. There’s just about every style of music in her songs. She doesn’t leave many stones unturned. I own all of Gretta’s music, and I was one of the first to play her music on Community Radio in NSW. If my radio partner in crime, Bob, saw me coming in without a Gretta song to play each week, he’d threaten to send me home to get one.

Gretta puts her heart and soul into every song that she writes and sings. The song, Whole, does me in. Lyrically, vocally and the beautiful melody with a mix of a subtle but constant rhythm and steel guitar – very moving.

The words ‘musical journey’ and ‘emotional roller coaster’ have been overused in music reviews, but in their purest definition, they are the rides that Gretta takes you on. She just gets that one big pot and throws everything in there and somehow it all comes out sounding golden.

I’ve simplified it, of course. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into sounding like Gretta and only she can do that. She awakens us to new possibilities in music.

The song, Bones, is about how music is in her bones. Music is what keeps her going. Cleverly, she weaves a few different sounds into the song (no bagpipes, though). I heard her sing it acoustically on the radio and it sounded totally different but just as good.

Golden Days is up there in my top few on the album. It is very dreamy and smooth. All of Gretta’s songs evoke very clear imagery. They all paint pictures and mini movies. They are all little stories and some are big stories.

I think the last track, Who Knows, is just magnificent. It soars. It is the perfect way to end the album.

If Gretta Ziller’s voice is the last one that I hear singing, then, I’ll be happy.

Bravo.

The Single Life 26 August 2023

Andy Penkow must never sleep! When he is not touring, he’s recording or writing or Promoting. The singles keep coming – All the ways is the latest. He continually mixes up country styles. Another winner.

Matt Cornell has new music with Back for a day. Something we all contemplate. A very classy single from Matt.

Another prolific artist, Ashleigh Dallas, has released Sweet for you. She has us dancing again. The Kootingal Kid keeps it country but she also keeps us on our toes.

Jo Caseley has a knack of throwing in an interestingly titled song now and then. This one is Take Me to the Boozer. It is a good little singalong song. I love the guitar work on this and you really can’t go wrong in a country song with a drinking song.

Melinda Schneider released a song 21 years ago called The Story of my Life. It won her the female artist of the year, an amazing, honest song that seemed premature, considering she was still so young – but she did start at 3! Her life has taken on many turns since then, hence a reboot and an additional verse, bring us up to date. The Story of My Life – The Next Chapter. we look forward to another update on 21 years. Take a bow, Mel.

Matt Ward is back with a song very close to his heart and his family. It has a touch of the Paul Kelly’s about it. For all who have a passion for a footy team ( no matter what the code), Red and Blue (The Norwood Song) is for you.

Donna Fisk is a wonderful example of how a singer can get better as they get older. She is really firing on all cylinders. Her latest, Mickey Newbury, is about a friend of Donna’s. Every song that Donna has released lately has me saying that it is my favourite. Well, this just tops all of them. Keep them coming.

Allan Caswell may disagree about the subject in Donna’s song being the last Newbury fan, as I know that Allan loves his work. Allan keeps the songs coming. He co-wrote his latest with his wife, Marian. Things I should’ve told you is both sad and funny. From the title and the melody and the first line, you would think that it was going to be sad, but it isn’t. There’s some funny lines and some tongue in cheek ones. Mostly, it is real.

Caswell features in the collaboration with Chad Morgan, Lindsay Waddington, and Terry Gordon. The friends we’ve lost too soon. Unfortunately, we have lost far too many over the last few years. A song many of us will be able to relate to.

Some things never get old is an amazing duet from husband and wife, Blake Dantier and Cass Hopetoun. They both have totally different styles when they record separately, when they get together, they compromise. This is pretty powerful. It might even be golden.

People get old is another collaboration, between Brad Butcher and Busby Marou – People get older. Ain’t that the truth! A thoughtful, catchy song.

Warren Kearney’s Road beneath my wheels is country’s version of wind beneath my wings meets car wheels on a gravel road. This is a fine song which is doing well on the country charts.

Les Thomas is releasing them pretty quickly at the moment – The Circus conjures up lots of colourful images. Les is an awesome storyteller. I think that this is one of his best.

No place for Slim is from JoKeria. I actually thought that I had reviewed this. It is a really good song, don’t worry about the title, I raised an eyebrow myself until I listened to it!

Sorry for the delay. My ears have failed me a bit lately.

Totally Biased Fan Review: I’m in love – Hailey Whitters EEP

1. Tie’r Down (Hailey Whitters, Rodney Clawson, Chris La Corte)
2. Countryside Chick (Hailey Whitters, Matt Roy, Brett Tyler)
3. I’m In Love (Cameron Bedell, Nicolle Galyon, Lee Thomas Miller)
4. Mellencamp (Nicolle Galyon, Mark Holman, Jordan Minton)
5. Bad Love (Hailey Whitters, Hillary Lindsey, Jimmy Robbins)
6. Everything She Ain’t (Hailey Whitters, Bryan Simpson, Ryan Tyndell)

This 6 track EEP contains a re-released song and 5 newbies. Hailey has an authentic country sound and an equally authentic honesty and fun side. There are traces of The Chicks, Shania and Trisha in her repertoire but for the present era, she’s her own girl.

The songs are bright and breezy and generally full of twang and hope. The songs are pure country, covering all the bases of real country songs.

The EEP is a teaser, 6 tracks are hardly enough. There is some clever phrasing and some wonderful lyrics. There’s a good dose of banjos, fiddles and all types of guitars.

There is a balance between tempos, though there is an overall theme of hope and looking forward.

At 33, Hailey is still finding her way. She has found her niche, and her songwriting chops as well as finding songs that fit her like she wrote them herself.

This is a fast, free flowing EEP. Hopefully, we will keep hearing more from her.

Totally Biased Fan Review: Little Songs – Colter Wall

1. Prairie Evening/Sagebrush Waltz
2. Standing Here
3. Corralling the Blues
4. The Coyote & The Cowboy
5. Honky Tonk Nighthawk
6. For a Long While
7. Cow/Calf Blue Yodel
8. Little Songs
9. Evangelina
10. The Last Loving Words

Apart from two old cowboy classics – coyote and the Cowboy by Ian Tyson and Evangelina by Hoyt Axton, the Canadian has played all originals here in a Western style.

Colter has more of a cult following than a big Nashville or Texan audience. He sounds like a softer Waylon Jennings sometimes, other times there’s some Johnny and he is often compared to other older western artists.

He’s a cowboy who writes and sings songs sometimes, not the other way around. He co- produced this album with one of his band members, Patrick Lyons.

It has the feeling of mates playing some tunes around a campfire or at a barbecue. It will make you think of Tom T Hall and Don Williams and all of those folks. Truth is, Colter is 28. He was 18 when he recorded his first album. You would never guess it when you listen to this album which feels like it has been around forever.

Get out your harmonica, your spoons, your guitar, and definitely your hat and flannels. If there’s someone with a fiddle and some sticks then grab them too.

This is a fresh breeze across the field. Sway, hum, or just have a glass of whatever pleases you and listen.

Share this:

1.Sticks and Stones
2. Alcohallelujah
3. Every Time I Drink
4. More Than Friends (Feat. Lainey Wilson)
5. Ladder of Love
6. Wrong House
7. Icarus
8. If I Didn’t Love You
9. Overpass
10. Lying
11. All Four Winds
12. The View

This self produced album by Lukas is a party in a bar room. Well it feels that way. I personally liked his last more introspective album but the majority of fans wanted to have a reason to dance and be happy, given the ways of the world at the moment.

So Lukas, who is very dominant on this album, wanted to please the crowd. The songs are much more upbeat, even some of those which aren’t entirely positive.

Lukas and the band are on fire here, whether they are making you get up on your feet or helping you mellow out.

There’s a lot of light and shade on this album, ups and downs of life and different styles. I guess he’s like Willie that way- he tries different avenues of music but in the end it all comes back to country music.

There are some beautiful ballads and some fun stuff. The musicianship on this album is top notch. Yes it is loose and fun but it also manages to be technically inspiring with some great guitars.

It tackles some heavy subjects but some in a tongue in cheek way. This is probably their best album yet.

Great collaboration with Lainey, took me back to the 70’s duets. (More than friends). Lying and The View are standouts too, as is Alcohallaleujah.

Carrying on the legacy but also stamping his own mark on Country Music.

Totally Biased Fan Review: 1988 – Lori McKenna

1988 TRACK LIST

1. The Old Woman in Me(written by Lori McKenna)
2. Happy Children(written by Lori McKenna, Chris McKenna)
3. Killing Me feat. Hillary Lindsey(written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird)
4. Days Are Honey(written by Lori McKenna, Barry Dean, Luke Laird)
5. 1988(written by Lori McKenna, Brian McKenna)
6. Growing Up(written by Lori McKenna)
7. Wonder Drug(written by Lori McKenna)
8. The Town in Your Heart(written by Lori McKenna, Jessie Jo Dillon, Dustin Christensen)
9. Letting People Down(written by Lori McKenna)
   10. The Tunnel(written by Lori McKenna, Ben West, Stephen Wilson Jr)

Over the last few years, I have made no secret of the fact that I love this lady’s music. She has that same feel to me as my favourite, Mary Chapin Carpenter has. It is that beautiful fusion between country and folk music.

Dave Cobb produces this album named after the year that she married her husband, Gene. The album is largely autobiographical and it even features a song co-written with her son, Chris.

She was the first female ever to win ACM’s Songwriter of the year award, which says truck loads, considering the amazing female songwriters before her. She has written and co-written so many amazing songs for and with others.

It is not all happy memories, there’s some bittersweet songs and songs about tough times but the best country and folk music songs are about these moments.

Lori’s honesty in her songs and the 120 percent amount of emotion that she puts into her music makes them all so real, relatable and heartfelt.

I mean: the road heading south is somebody’s north/Just like somebody’s darkness is somebody’s torch”) how amazing are those lyrics?

‘Look to the clock on the wall, hands hardly moving at all. ‘

She says that she wished that she had made an album like this when she was younger, but of course, the experiences that led to these songs, the wisdom and the way that the world has turned wouldn’t have allowed her to.

Her voice is sometimes Stevie Nicks, sometimes Patty Loveless, sometimes both with a dash of Carole King and as I mentioned before, there’s an awful lot of Mary there too. However, essentially, these songs are the stories that Lori has lived or observed and they are all hers.

She pulls on your heartstrings, makes you feel like you aren’t the only one walking a certain line and she makes you think. There’s also a lot of hope and celebration here.

Combining the words Killing and happy in several different ways is also very clever in the song Killing me which features long time collaborator Hillary Lindsey.

Another fine album from one of the very best singer/songwriters ever.

Totally Biased Fan Review: Across the sheets – Brett Young EEP

1. Dance With You
2. Let Go Too Soon
3. Back To Jesus
4. Uncomfortable
5. Love Goes On
6. I Did This To Me
7. You Aint Here to Kiss Me (2022)
8. Dont Take the Girl

This right track EEP mixes old an new for Brett with only one song that he didn’t co-write, the Tim McGraw song, Don’t Take The Girl, which apparently inspired Brett to go into country music.

They are modern tracks but they have substance, they vary and there are some strong lyrics and some interesting variations in vocals and musical arrangements.

Brett said that he wrote most of the songs during the height of the pandemic and he really stretched himself lyrically. I have to agree with that, there are some really clever phrases and ideas on the EEP. uncomfortable and You ain’t here to kiss me are two good examples of that.

There is a good balance between uptempo and laid back songs. Brett is rare in the way that he can combine modern and traditional stylings in the one song. Not many can do that right.

The Tim McGraw cover is pretty loyal to the original, with some phrasing altered. Of course, their voices are very different.

All the songs have merit, but if pushed, I would say that I like the opener, Dance With You and Let Go too soon (which contains the title’s line) best.

Nice one.